SNAPSHOT
In Gaga: Five Foot Two, Lady Gaga narrates how loneliness has pervaded her life as a star. It also shows scenes of her struggling with chronic pain due to fibromyalgia, as well as a snippet of an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe in which she lists a handful of issues she has been grappling with: “paranoia, fear, body pain, anxiety.” (synopsis (c) Paste Magazine)
Successfully pursuing your dreams, as Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta aka Lady Gaga has so stupendously successfully done, can be a double-edged sword.
Yes, all your creative aspirations have been, or have the capacity, to be fulfilled; but as you quickly discover, success and fame do not you being you with all of the upsides and flaws that entails.
Hailed by The Hollywood Reporter for offering a “an artfully casual, precisely spontaneous glimpse into the life of [the pop] idol” and by Variety as an “intensely revealing of Gaga’s life and personality”, Gaga: Five Foot Two gives us an impressively confessional look at the full panoply of pop culture celebrity.
Granted, it is likely as stage managed as anything else this amazingly talented singer/songwriter/actor/fashion icon/etc etc has done, but nonetheless, all reviews point to the artist’s authenticity and realness throughout the film.
If you’re a fan, this will be required viewing; but even if you’re not, you get the impression it’s worth watching if only to fully appreciate what it is like to have all your wishes granted and still find yourself not as close to nirvana as you thought you might be.
After premiering at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, Gaga: Five Foot Two is currently available on Netflix.